Acute Aortic Dissection at the Douala General Hospital: A Report of Two Cases

Abstract

ABSTRACTAcute aortic dissection is the most frequent and lethal presentation of acute aortic syndromes with an incidence of 3-4 cases per 100.000 per year. In general, 20% of patients with aortic dissection die before reaching the hospital and 30% die during hospital admissions. We present two cases of acute aortic dissection we received in sequence over a period of one month: A case of Standford type A aortic dissection with extension to renal and iliac arteries initially misdiagnosed as acute myocardial infarction and a case of standford type B aortic dissection. A clinician may not attend to a case of aortic dissection in all his practice. High index of suspicion and initiation of appropriate registries are potential avenues to curb mortality.